NTSB said plane was bouncing before crash

Witnesses said a plane appeared to be operating erratically as the pilot took off just before crashing in Battle Creek last month.“A little later an FBO (Fixed Base Operator) employee, who was watching the accident plane depart, got another employee’s attention, adding that the airplane was ‘bouncing’ back and forth,” according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. “She noticed the airplane, and saw that the wings were rocking back and forth during the takeoff. Once airborne, the airplane turned around and came back to the runway for a landing. She did not see the crash, because a parked airplane blocked her view.”




William Pergerson II, 48, a pastor from Berrien Springs, was flying the home-built One Easy airplane when it crashed about 8:17 p.m. on Aug. 27. He died in the accident.

A full report on the investigation of the crash won’t be complete for a year but some information was released in the preliminary report.

The NTSB said Pergerson arrived earlier in the day and people who met him noticed oil on the back of the airplane. He told them he had not tightened the oil cap on the engine properly and wiped away the oil.

At about 8 p.m. he returned from a meeting and prepared to leave the airport.

“While trying to exit the FBO ramp, a business jet was entering the ramp; once the accident pilot moved his airplane to the side, the jet entered the ramp and the accident pilot started taxiing towards the runway for departure,” according to the NTSB report.

The report continues: “Prior to the accident, the tower controller cleared the pilot to taxi to runway 23R. Then shortly afterwards, cleared the airplane for takeoff. The operator reported that airplane wandered on the runway and did not track a straight line; then continued to fly erratically once airborne. The airplane made a 180-degree turn and flew back down runway 5L, before making another 180-degree turn, towards runway 23R. The controller added that the airplane made a sudden nosedive, during the turn towards the runway and impacted the ground.

“The airport’s security cameras caught sections of the accident sequence and the video was retained for further review. After an initial documentation of the airplane wreckage, the wreckage was removed to a hangar for further examination,” the report concludes.

The single-engine plane crashed about a half-mile south of Dickman Road in a grassy area of the airport just east of the main runway.